AB1878 Summary:

Enacts the residential structure fire prevention act of 2018; provides a tax credit to homeowners who remove cock loft fire hazards in their homes; provides an insurance discount for the installation of smoke detecting alarm devices in cock lofts; provides that the repair of cock lofts for the purpose of fire prevention and safety shall be qualifying expenditures under state housing programs.

AB1878 Actions:

AB1878 Text:

STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1878--A
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 13, 2017
___________
Introduced by M. of A. LENTOL -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Ways and Means -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the tax law, the insurance law and the executive law, in
relation to enacting the residential structure fire prevention act of
2018
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "residen-
2 tial structure fire prevention act of 2018".
3 § 2. Section 606 of the tax law is amended by adding a new subsection
4 (ccc) to read as follows:
5 (ccc) Credit for removing certain fire hazards. (1) Any resident owner
6 of real property as defined in section one hundred two of the real
7 property tax law shall be allowed a credit against the tax otherwise
8 imposed under this article in an amount equal to twenty-five percent of
9 the cost of removing fire hazards commonly known as cock lofts, provided
10 that such credit shall not exceed five thousand dollars. For purposes of
11 this section the term "cock loft" shall mean a completely enclosed space
12 between rafters and a suspended ceiling.
13 (2) If the amount of the credit allowed under this subsection for any
14 taxable year shall exceed the taxpayer's tax for such year, the excess
15 shall be treated as an overpayment of tax to be credited or refunded in
16 accordance with the provisions of section six hundred eighty-six of this
17 article, provided, however, that no interest shall be paid thereon.
18 § 3. Section 2346 of the insurance law is amended by adding a new
19 subsection 6 to read as follows:
20 6. The superintendent shall provide for an actuarially appropriate
21 reduction in the rates of fire insurance premiums or the fire insurance
22 component of homeowners insurance premiums applicable to residential
23 real property equipped with smoke detecting alarm devices in cock lofts.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03403-02-7

A. 1878--A 2
1 The superintendent shall by regulation establish standards for smoke
2 detecting alarm devices in cock lofts, including the safe and secure
3 installation thereof. For the purposes of this subsection, "cock loft"
4 shall mean a completely enclosed space between rafters and a suspended
5 ceiling.
6 § 4. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 170-c to
7 read as follows:
8 § 170-c. Repair of certain fire hazards. Any state agency or authori-
9 ty, including but not limited to the New York state energy research and
10 development authority, division of housing and community renewal and
11 state of New York mortgage agency, that provides a housing program shall
12 include the repair of cock lofts for the purpose of fire prevention and
13 safety as a qualifying expenditure under any such program. For the
14 purposes of this section, "cock loft" shall mean a completely enclosed
15 space between rafters and a suspended ceiling.
16 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to taxable
17 years beginning on or after January 1, 2018.